Godox TT350 Users, can a single TT350 be used with a softbox for outdoor portrait session? Not a paid shot, just helping a friend for her babymoon shots. I heard TT350 packs a lot of power for a small size. Can I use it, probably close to full power with a softbox? The lens is a 70-200/2.8 Sony. Camera Sony A9.
In a tiny soft box to just illuminate the head on an overcast day, maybe 🤔 if it’s very close to the subject,
if it’s just the baby then you may get away with it but if it’s mother and baby and you want a soft main light then the 350 will struggle
Direct with a small diffuser or no diffuser for a bit of fill then you are in with a chance, but that’s a bit harsh for a baby shoot,
If it’s all you have and you are doing it, then choose a day that’s a bit dull, so you can work within the sync speed 1/250th of the A9, going into HSS will sap flash power the 350 doesn’t have, and I would suggest a practice so you can see what you get and what you have to work with.
Yes it could be used. But results will depend on many of variables. Size of the softbox. Direction of flash (facing out or bounced). Subject distance from the light. Aperture. ISO. HSS?
I measured my TT350 (full power, widest zoom, no diffusion) giving ISO100 f/8 at 2m. Setting it to HHS drops the output power considerably. So you are not overpowering the sun with one of these little guys. You can certainly add some fill.
The TT350 is 1/2 the power (30 watts +/-) of a standard V860 speed lite. It is not made to fully illuminate outdoor subjects, especially in a soft box, that is what 300 watt + lights are for. Things you can do to give it more power are underexpose the background ambient by a 2/3 of a stop, raise the ISO up to 800 or more (pp to get rid of ISO noise if necessary) and shoot at f2.8. I use my V350 at times outside but I use it with f1.4 and f1.2 lenses and have much brighter conditions than the NW. But most time I use the AD200 or AD300.
Recycle time will be 2 plus seconds and at full power you will go thru batteries fast, make sure to bring an extra set. And I agree with @Uncle Chip, a practice session will be helpful and make the actual shoot more productive.
jmmaher wrote:
As stated above, but in the shade with a smaller softbox close to the subject it should work OK. Probally ISO 400 at 2.8
I concur, with the added comment that the dual-gain sensor on the A9 will show less ‘read noise’ at ISO 600, which will only help boost your effective lighting power. In fact, at ISO 600, the dynamic range and read-noise will be similar to ISO 100, again, due to the dual-gain sensor. Jim Kasson, on his website, shows tests to verify this.
Bigger issues are recycling time, light pattern being small which will most likely cause heavier shadows because the quality of light is not optimal. Now if you have it off camera you may get better results but not sure you can use a transmitter with that flash to work it remotely there bigger units I know you can. I have not kept up with Godox as I’m using a different system . It’s really not the best setup with that smaller output of a flash. It’s a test that one should do ahead of time
Yes the TT350 works with the XT2S transmitter, which I already have. The condition will be sunny day, with snow on the background. If it doesn't cut it for such conditions, what alternative is better? An AD200 perhaps?
You would be better served with the 200 unit as with fill you need power . The 200 unit is pretty strong for sure. Still recommend off camera for sure. You could even bounce into a umbrella to soften the light better too
I have been using 3 200 units for some time and they have a good amount of power even in beauty dish or Octi softboxes. I have one as main, back light and sometimes fill or hair. That’s indoors and I can still get F11 if needed at ISO 100 so plenty of juice
The ad200 is the most versatile unit, with the extension lead you can have all the weight low down on the light stand,
I swapped out my 200s for 100’s and 300’s but you need both to replace the versatility of the 200, if I where to just buy 1 unit then I would recommend the AD200 with the extension head and an s2 bracket, that said if my main interest was outdoors then I would get the 300,
2x ad200’s is another option, and they come up on the second hand market often, you can then get the B1 bracket and combine both the 200’s into a single 400 with Bowen’s mount, 2x200 is a very versatile setup.
The dual gain ISO is a valid point, so you have the same noise at 640 as you do at 200 on the A9, but on a sunny day you will be struggling to keep the flash below HSS of 250, you loose a lot of your power by engaging HSS, I read it’s a stop off power for every stop of speed, but you seam to loose half a stop by just engaging it,
james2441139 wrote:
Yes the TT350 works with the XT2S transmitter, which I already have. The condition will be sunny day, with snow on the background. If it doesn't cut it for such conditions, what alternative is better? An AD200 perhaps?
Will the “snow on the background” be a snow capped peak in the distance or a full field of snow with the subject standing in it?
Snow can possibly cause exposure issues on its own. If the subjects are in a field of snow the cameras meter will try to turn the white snow into a field of 18% gray snow. If this is the case then do not underexpose the background as I mentioned in my post above, the cameras metering system is going to do that anyway by 1/2 to maybe 1-1/3 stop. In fact you should raise the EC by a 1/2 stop or more to compensate and keep the snow white, which unfortunately will make it more difficult for the small flash to keep up.
If the snow is a snow capped peak in the distant background, then you can try lowering the ambient to increase the flash’s power. Then spot adjust the snow in pp to bring it back to white if needed.
And I highly recommend the AD200, been using a pair since 2017 and they are a very versatile flash for outdoor portraits with the 2 head design. I use MagMod modifiers on the strobe head and just love that system, so easy to add grids or color filters. And with the flash tube head you can get excellent full coverage from many different types of modifiers.
james2441139 wrote:
Yes the TT350 works with the XT2S transmitter, which I already have. The condition will be sunny day, with snow on the background. If it doesn't cut it for such conditions, what alternative is better? An AD200 perhaps?
You still have not explained exactly what you're trying to achieve. Day to night effect by overpowering the sun? That's not happening. Lifting some shadows with gentle fill? Yes, but within limits.
When I hear "sunny" and "snow", I am not thinking of a TT350. A 685 or V1 size hotshoe flash will get you closer to balancing full sunny f/16 ambient light. But as others said, a 200ws light or more is really what you're looking for. This is especially true if using modifiers.
Using HSS above the a9's 1/250th sync speed enters the land of diminishing returns. HSS requires much more flash power than standard syncing. So you'll really need bigger lights if the intent is using wide apertures.
I personally not the biggest fan of HSS. Rather throw a ton of flash for fill. But that leaves at 1/250 max on shutter and given that you will need F8 widest so you can keep the ambient in check. That’s the main thought . Keep the ambient in check and ability to fill that close to that range.
I have used Godox ad200 and ad600 in softboxes outdoors in sun. Both work well enough and ad200 size makes it very practical (compared to heavy ad600 - I can even run with ad200 with softbox in one hand and camera in other hand for wider shots without using stands). I have v350 too so that it similar to tt350 but with better recycle time.
For all of these there is about 1.7EV advantage in delivered light when using normal mode over using HSS so ND filters during day to get to the 1/250s at wider apertures for small DoF are crucial if you are limited by the power. With ND filters I can do probably 80% of what I want with ad200. So ad200 and ND is what I would recommend for the shoot (maybe ad300 too, but I don't have experience with that one).
Of course it all depends on distance and how big area you want to light. I guess tt350 will results will be marginal during bright day when used from distance in softbox. It will be very useful at dusk though. It will be useful during the day if you can get very close, e.g. for head shot. Recycle time and heating protection will cause problems.
Be aware that in EFCS mode, there can be some ugly banding when using HSS. Full mechanical (EFCS off) would work well.
